Together Again
by brookefan329
Summary: Complete. I wrote this story for a challenge on a writer's board I belong to, I figured I would post it on here for everyone to read. AU Nathan and Haley were married for only one month before Nathan was shipped off to Iraq for a year. Today is the day


Part 1- Anticipation

Haley looked at herself one last time in the mirror. She wanted  
everything to be perfect when she saw Nathan for the first time in  
eleven months. Haley straightened her pale pink tank top and black  
peasant skirt, the outfit that she settled on after trying on what  
seemed liked everything else she owned. After running the brush  
through her long dirty blonde hair one more time she looked at the  
clock, it was only 12:15. Nathan's plane wouldn't land until 2:15.  
The airport was half an hour away so she still had about an hour to kill.

As she walked into the living room of her and Nathan's apartment she  
made sure every picture was hanging just right, that everything was in  
order. Nathan had never seen this apartment, Haley hadn't moved in  
until four months after Nathan left for his tour. Haley sat on the  
couch and turned on the tv. It only took a few minutes for her mind  
to drift.

FLASHBACK: "Hales, I have some bad news." Nathan gestured to the  
couch and took a seat himself.

"Babe, what's going on?" Haley immediately started to worry. She and  
Nathan had been married for only a couple of weeks. She hoped it  
wasn't anything serious.

"I got word today that I am being deployed to Iraq." Nathan could see  
the tears well up in Haley's eyes.

"For how long? When do you leave?" There were millions of questions  
running through Haley's mind.

"I leave in two weeks. I will be gone about a year, give or take a  
little bit. You will be taken care while I am gone though. My  
paychecks will be sent to you so you won't have to worry about making  
it on your own or anything. We can take these next couple of weeks to  
make sure everything is in order." Nathan didn't want Haley to worry  
about anything, especially money, while he was gone.

"How can you say I don't have to worry about making it on my own, of  
course I have to worry about it. I won't have you. Money doesn't  
matter at all to me Nathan, only you do. Without you I have nothing."  
Haley was on the verge of tears.

"I hate this as much as you, but when I enlisted we knew it was a  
possibility. The good news is that if I am gone a year when I come  
back I will be done. I can go into the reserves. I will have served  
my four years in active duty. Then, we can decide the next step,  
together."

END FLASHBACK.

Haley got chills when she thought of Nathan's words, deciding the next  
step together. Just the thought of it set her mind, and heart, at  
ease. She and Nathan had decided nearly months ago that Haley would  
find an apartment in their hometown of Tree Hill and they would live  
there upon his return. Previous to the move the couple had been  
living on the military base. Sure, Haley had friends there, wives of  
other soldiers, but it wasn't enough. Haley was miserable and felt  
all alone there. She knew that returning to her roots, to her best  
friends, would make the rest of Nathan's tour easier. It had helped,  
but still Haley felt empty.

This past year had been the hardest year of her life. The endless  
letters and phone calls had been wonderful, but paled in comparison to  
actually seeing Nathan, actually having him hold her in his arms.  
That was what she couldn't wait for, the feeling of his strong arms  
around her. Haley knew that it was then and only then that she would  
feel truly safe, just thinking about it put Haley's mind at ease.

All of a sudden a nervous feeling started to develop in the pit of  
Haley's stomach. What if things weren't the same when Nathan came  
back? What is their love had somehow diminished with his absence?  
What if the letters and phone calls weren't enough? What if, for some  
reason, Haley wasn't enough for him anymore? They had been so young,  
only 22, when they got married. Right after Haley graduated from  
college. What if things had changed and that same passion wasn't  
there between them anymore?

Part 2- Homecoming

Nathan had never walked a hallway so long. The security station was  
not even in view yet and he felt as though he had been walking  
forever. As he was walking Nathan thought back to the day that he  
walked this same hallway going the other way, the day he boarded the  
plane that would take him to Iraq. He could vividly remember hearing  
Haley cry out loud as he walked away from the security station. He  
had held her for what seemed like hours, never wanting to let her go.  
He knew that this year without her would be the hardest of his life.

Nathan had never expected to enlist in the army. He had started at  
Duke, with Haley, five years ago. It was the perfect school, for both  
of them. They had an amazing basketball team for Nathan and a  
challenging academic program for Haley. They had even started early,  
heading up to Duke and getting settled in the summer before their  
freshman year. Nathan had been able to start practicing with the team  
and Haley had been able to take some summer classes. Everything was  
great until classes started. The classes were much to challenging for  
Nathan and within weeks he had fallen behind. Then September 11th  
happened.

September 11th had deeply affected Nathan. One of his best friends  
from high school, Tim Smith, had died that day. Tim had only been  
living in New York City for a few weeks. He was at a job interview in  
one of the World Trade Center towers when it was hit by a plane.  
Nathan had been affected more deeply than he thought possible by the  
loss of his friend. He had grown up with Tim and the thought that he  
would never see him again was more than Nathan could bear. Nathan  
knew what he had to do. He knew that he had to enlist in the army and  
fight for his country. That was the best way he could fight back  
against the terrorists who took his best friend from him.

The year Nathan spent in Iraq was harder than he had ever expected.  
Each day he had to urge himself on. It was Haley that kept him going.  
The mere thought that everyday brought him one day closer to being  
with her again was the only thing making him forge on. Nathan had  
written Haley numerous letters and called her every chance he got. He  
knew that it was just as hard for Haley to be away from Nathan is it  
was for him to be away from her. Because of that he knew that he had  
to be strong for her. He couldn't break down and cry with joy when he  
heard her voice because he had to help her through her own tears. Her  
tears of joy always turned into tears of longing. Nathan knew how she  
felt. He had never wanted anything as badly as to wrap his arms  
around his wife again.

Finally, the metal detectors were in view. He picked up his pace a  
little bit knowing that one the other side was Haley. His wife. The  
woman who completed him. The woman who could always understand him.  
The woman who put up with him when no one else would. There hadn't  
been a day that went by since they got married that Nathan wasn't 100  
sure that she was who he wanted to be with for the rest of his life.  
And when he finally spotted her, on the other side of the security  
checkpoint, he knew they could finally start forever.

Part 3- Never Let Go

Haley nervously pulled at her shirt. She couldn't stay still. She  
had sat and then stood and then paced. Looking at her watch she was  
stunned to see that only two minutes had elapsed since she last  
checked. She felt as though it had been years. Peering up towards  
the metal detectors she saw the crowd approaching. Pushing through  
people she tried to get a clear view of the passengers heading towards  
her. Then she heard it, "Hales." She scoured the crowd even harder.  
Then she saw him.

He looked the same, exactly the same and it made her heart soar. He  
was still the most beautiful man that she had ever laid her eyes on.  
She ran up to the security checkpoint as Nathan pushed his way  
through the crowd. As soon as he passed through the gate he dropped  
the bag he was carrying, ran towards her and lifted her into his arms.  
He looked into her eyes and kissed her. Thank god he was holding her  
up because the second Haley felt his lips on hers she felt her knees  
go weak.

"I have imagined this moment for the past eleven months. Everyday I  
thought about how I couldn't wait to hold you in my arms again. You  
were what kept me going Hales, this feeling, right here, this is what  
kept me going." Nathan put Haley down but didn't let her out of his arms.

"I have imagine this moment too Nathan. Every night when I had to lie  
in bed alone I imagine how this moment would finally feel, and with  
that thought I could drift off to sleep. There is nowhere that I  
would rather be than in your arms." Haley had tears streaming down  
her face. They were tears of joy, and only tears of joy. She was  
finally back in Nathan's arms. "Please, Nathan never let go."

"Hales, even when my arms do let you go know that my heart and soul  
never will." Nathan leaned down and kissed his wife again. "Now  
let's get out of here." Nathan went back to pick up his bag, all the  
while not letting go of Haley's hands. "Take me home Haley."

Part 4- Loving You

Nathan and Haley were on their way home talking incessantly when all  
of a sudden, "Turn left here Hales."

"What? Why? We don't live down there." Haley knew that Nathan had  
never been to their apartment before but she thought he knew where it was.

"I know that. I have a surprise for you. Hang a right up at the stop  
sign." Nathan instructed.

They winded their way through a neighborhood that looked all too  
familiar to Haley. Before she knew it they had pulled up to the house  
that Haley had grown up in. "What are we doing here Nathan? My  
parents don't live here anymore.

"I know that Hales, but we do." A huge smile broke out across  
Nathan's face.

"We live here?" Haley asked softly. "But how?"

"Well, Lucas kept sending me the Tree Hill Times, so I could keep up  
on the news here and everything. A few months ago I saw that your  
parents' house was on the market again. I know how much you loved  
that house so I bought it for us. You didn't spend a lot of money  
while I was gone, and our expenses weren't that much, so we had a lot  
of money in savings that could be put down. Because of that our  
monthly mortgage payments would be only a little more than the  
apartment so I went ahead with it. I wanted you to know that I was  
seriously thinking about our future while I was gone." Nathan looked  
at his wife, she was walking towards the front door with a look of  
sheer awe on her face.

"This is incredible Nathan. I couldn't have asked for anything more.  
I loved this house so much." Haley didn't know what to say.

"I know. Now it is ours to do what we want with it." As the walked  
towards the front door Nathan pulled a key out of his pocket, he  
reached in front of Haley and unlocked the door. "We are going to do  
this right." Nathan picked up Haley and carried her into the house.  
"I have to carry you across the threshold of our first house."

"I love you Nathan Scott, for everything you have done. I cannot wait  
to start moving into this house. I have so many ideas already of what  
we can do with it."

"Well, I have one last surprise." Nathan led Haley up the stairs and  
down the hall, "Lucas had to help me with this one."

They stopped in front of one of the doors, "This is my old room."

"I know Hales, remember, I used to crawl in your window. I decided we  
could use this as the guest room for now, but I wanted it done a  
certain way so Lucas lent a hand." He opened the door and Haley  
walked in.

"It is just like I remember it. How did he do all this?" Haley was  
awe struck.

"I talked to your parents and everything was in storage in case you  
and I wanted it at some point. So Lucas went and got it all out and  
put it back, just as you had had it. I had thought about it being our  
room but we really want the master bedroom with the bathroom and  
everything, so I figured we could use it as a guest room."

"Thank you so much for this. It is just like I remember it. It is  
perfect." Haley's eyes drifted.

"What's going through that pretty head of yours?"

"I was just thinking of all the old memories that we have in this  
room." Haley's eyes started to cloud with tears.

"Well, I can think of one thing that we never did in this room."  
Nathan bent down and kissed Haley, guiding her towards the bed.

"This we definitely never did in this room. Let's make a new memory  
for this room." Haley laid herself down on the bed and Nathan lay on  
top of her. And there, in Haley's childhood room in Haley's childhood  
home she and Nathan made love for the first time in almost a year.


End file.
